Bring It!

So let's see, it's been about 6 months since my last post. I know, I know, I've been very tardy with updating my blog. But since my human's back, a lot of my time is spent keeping her in line - I don't know how she does it without me when she's away.

I celebrated the 3rd anniversary of my joining this household 6 days ago and I sprained my toe about a month back which saw me limping around the house...but wait, those aren't even the biggest news of what's happened in the last 6 months. Oh no, not even close. You see, I've always prided myself on being an exemplary dog, I keep a close watch of the are outside our compound and alert my humans to any strangers lurking about, I keep watch over my human when she naps (although she's also caught me napping during this time...I said exemplary not perfect!),  partake in family activities as long as it doesn't involve me walking on grass. So an all round easy going family dog; so good in fact that my humans decided to...sigh, I can't bring myself to say it but I'll have to: adopt another dog. I know, there really isn't any reward for being good.

Introducing the newest addition to my pack: Pepper

Pepper joined our household about 7 weeks ago. My humans took me to see her before they brought her home and I thought I made my feelings perfectly clear then by refusing to indulge in her playful antics but lo and behold they brought her home 2 weeks after! The pack dynamics have evolved since so I've been trying to figure out where I sit in this new structure. I've therefore appointed myself as my human's second in command - whose duties include but are not limited to: enforcing the rules of the household on Pepper and showing her the ropes. It's hard being middle management, I feel under appreciated at times and the work load can get a bit burdensome (Pepper is a handful!) but I'm really gunning for that big promotion that will see me escalate to being a pack leader!

Get in line newbie. Everybody wants a piece of me!

The newbie's been acting like an apple polishing, over eager intern/new graduate who is after my role (you guys know the type I'm talking about) but like all newcomers, she's been messing up (I mean this figuratively and literally) so I intend to take full advantage of this time - where us, upper and middle management, chill in the house while the new help scurries around guarding the house during the day shift. She's taken it upon herself to act as my mentee but I'm still contemplating if I should take this role up. It is a lot of responsibility and I don't have time as it is (after napping, grooming myself and bone chewing there really aren't that many hours left in the day)...plus once you get to middle management with sights set on being the pack leader, you start looking over your shoulder to see who's coming up behind you with a choke chain.

'Tis a big responsibility taking someone under your wing but like Spiderman said: With great power comes great responsibility. And to Pepper, if you are reading this: Bring It!

New Year Audit

I know, my blogging attempts last year were shameful. A whole 12 months, 365 days and I only managed 2 entries. To be fair my human was away most of last year so there wasn't anyone to translate my thoughts. I also gained a fair bit of weight which makes doing anything remotely physical tiring - this weight gain thing is a vicious cycle, the bigger you get the less likely you are to do any physical activity. sigh...

Let's do the 2011 audit in numbers then:

4 number of humans currently doting on me at home. My human came back late last year - which was about time as 4 people's unconditional adoration is better than 3.

24 inches. That's how big my chest is now. To put things in perspective, most supermodels have a 24 inch waist. Some may say I'm losing my shape, but honey if it works for those Victoria Secret's angels it will do for me.

A bird's eye view of my newly enhanced chest.
Eat your heart out Katie Price/Jordan/Scary lady with enormous chest and strange nose

2.5 years. The number of years I've spent in this household. How time flies. I've graduated into an indoor dog, got my own corner with my own bed in the TV room, staked out my new sleeping position above the shoe cabinet near the back gate and trained mum to give me daily lunch treats. To think that I spent my first 2 nights here in my human's bathroom to having the run of the house in 2 years. This is equivalent to starting out in the mailroom and becoming CEO of GE in 2 years (ok, maybe 14 years given we need to apply the 7 multiplier when thinking in dog time) - Jack Donaghy would be proud.

Speaking of which...when is 30 Rock coming back on TV?

6 months. This was the number of months my human spent away from me. But with weekly video Skype calls it was like she never left and I still manage to showcase my new tricks to her via Skype. Technology really is amazing. Now if only they make paw friendly keyboards.

3 new tricks. Mum taught me new tricks last year (which explains my ever expanding chest. New tricks = more treats! I don't know what body shape I am but I seem to gain all my weight round the chest area. I suppose most glamour models would wish for this ability).

One of the new tricks I picked up in 2011. Assume Play Position!

1 very happy dog. All in all 2011 was a great year and it had a tremendous end. I spent New Year's Eve on the rooftop with my bed and my blankie. There may have been fireworks going up all around which scares me silly but at least I was with all my humans and a strong pack is a happy pack.

Downward facing dog! Am going to lose weight in 2012 - Year of the Olympics!

The Terrible Twos

It has been a little over 2 years since I joined this household. I didn't have big plans nor any expectations when my human opened the car door to the garden on the 6th July 2009.

But 2 years on and I've settled into my role in the family: companion, motivator, alert dog, comedian - I'm multi-faceted. =) And with my human having gone away for work again, I've got extra shoes to fill in the family (thankfully, I've got 4 legs, which makes things slightly easier).

I've put together a little video for my 2 year update. Enjoy!

Viddy

My human picked up my license from the council yesterday and it looks like I'm dog #50 to get one in our area!

A new addition to my collar...it is starting to feel like some kind of charm bracelet

My humans think that having 50 embossed on my license is akin 50 Cent wearing a big "50 Cent" necklace around his neck. So say hello to "Lima Puluh Sen" (How we Malaysians call 50 Cents). You can call me Viddy (not to be confused with Fiddy which is what 50 Cent calls himself these days and VD which is an STD...).

Here is picture of Fiddy looking all tough at a concert:

And this is me rocking it at home:

It isn't easy keeping this pose. (One of my numerous yoga poses)

I have also decided that I can just as easily rock the Fiddy and Ali G look. Here is Ali G with his swimming goggles:

And here I am with mine:

It is a tad too big but this is equivalent to men wearing low slung jeans

Looking a bit granny like here. Not very P.I.M.P like...

There you go, my ears just needed to be up to support the goggles

Look out peeps, there is a new dawg in town.

Freaky Friday

Remember that movie Freaky Friday where mother and daughter switched bodies and they have to live in the other person's shoes until something was resolved? I had a near Freaky Friday experience (but I am no LiLo yo!)...well as near an experience as I can get through my human.

It was raining yesterday and like all dogs I get a bit nervous when there are thunders about, so my human camped out in the room downstairs to have a nap with me while it rained in the afternoon. She dreamt that we switched bodies so that I can experience life as a human. Which btw I think is highly over-rated. As a dog I've got 4 humans fussing over me and all I have to do to earn my keep is bark whenever there are strangers about. I get free rein around the house, fed daily and copious amounts of belly rubs throughout the day. A pretty good deal if you ask me! So I think it is my human's subconscious that wants to experience life as a dog. 

Anyhoo, in her dream, after a few hours in my paws, she decided that she wanted to switch back to a human but she couldn't. Any attempts to scream for help came out as whimpers and her only way to communicate with the world was through...(get this)...Facebook message! I guess she must have found my doggie keyboard - the one with the keys widely spaced to accommodate my lack of fingers and size of my paws (I can type 75 words per minute btw).

This whole thing sounds like a nightmare to me. I can't do all the things I enjoy if I am human. For instance, I don't think other humans look fondly at fully grown people who request belly rubs in public, I can't lick smelly feet, smell butts and imagine the looks on people's faces if they see a human scooting on a carpet!

Nope, I wouldn't want to be a human ever. I am very happy being a dog thank you very much!

Dashing Through the Snow...

This is my second Christmas but I didn't get to spend my first Christmas with my human cause she was away. My other humans made up for it last Christmas by treating me extra special. However good that feels, I'm happy that I am able to spend Christmas this year with my WHOLE pack rather than 75% of the pack. Afterall this season is meant to be spent with all your loved ones.

I have a new favourite sleeping spot in the house...it is in the corner of the TV room. Now, I'm normally not allowed in there as my claws do a lot of damage to the wooden floors. But my humans spend quite a bit of time in there and it sucks not being able to lie in there with them. So they laid out a mat for me at the corner so that I can keep an eye on them when they are watching TV (you so can't take your eyes off them, as you never can tell what they will get up to when I'm not watching) without having to walk on the wooden floor. I was quite happy with my mat from Ikea until they brought this back with them one day....

A cow patterned bed! (Note: No cows were injured in the making of this bed)

This is officially my favourite sleeping spot in the house!

I spend time thinking about the future in it... 

It may be a tad small but I like snug places

And it is really comfortable to sleep in

And just when I thought that was it, they gave me a new collar. There wasn't anything really wrong with my old collar, I mean I really liked it. It has this long slack which I use to spend my free time chewing on but for some reason my humans thought that wasn't good for me. So they got me a new quick snap collar which doesn't have any slack! So there goes my portable chew toy...but I think it makes me look kind of smart. While the old red collar makes me more outstanding, this new collar delivers understated cool.

My new quick snap collar that comes with a little bell

Christmas really did come early for me! The rest of the humans from the wider pack are coming over this Saturday and I can't wait to see them!


Here's wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas!

Rudolph wannabe but without the red nose.
My ears do look smaller though!

Where Do Puppies Come From?

There comes a time in every dog's life where the question: "Where do I come from?" is asked. While some dogs may bury their head (as ostriches) do and ignore their origins, I feel that in order to move forward with your life you have to understand where you've come from.

Hiding from your past won't do you any favours

So I have taken the tentative steps to discover where I've come from. I know humans have the whole stork story down to a pat but that's clearly ridiculous. I mean storks don't even have hands, how would they pack the babies into the slings? pffft...

I've heard that dogs/puppies are sold in shops but one look at me and one would know that I'm not classy (read: pure bred) enough to be displayed in a shop window. So I obviously didn't come home in a Selfridges bag (that and I don't think Selfridges sells dogs!). 

You mean this isn't what I came home in?

Nope, given my breed, or rather lack of, I probably arrived home in a nondescript box like the one below:

I tried out one of these boxes on for size to see how comfortable a dog would be in transit. It was what real estate agents would call: a charming studio benefiting from original features with a rustic feel (read: small poky cardboard box).

Property comes with high ceilings...

With room for entertainment (if your guests are tiny)

Skylight offers delightful views of the surroundings

As it turns out I didn't come home in a cardboard box either. Nope, my humans brought me home in a nondescript basket after they picked me up from PAWS. I lived in PAWS for 2 months where I was cared for by staff from PAWS and a group of volunteers. I was a sickly pup when my humans adopted me. I had a dopey ear, slight limp and a very bad cough as is shown in the video below.

While my limp and my cough may be deemed as drawbacks in a place where cute, healthy puppies have the best chance of adoption, the folks at PAWS took excellent care of me. They vaccinated me and made sure that I had a roof over my head and kibbles to eat when nobody wanted me. And a good thing too that they never gave up on me. Otherwise I would never have met my humans who somehow found the dopey ear and slight limp endearing (score!!).


Unfortunately, not all dogs from PAWS make it out to the real world. PAWS are reliant on funds from the public which sadly isn't enough to provide the care needed to all the strays that come through their door each day so some strays have to be put down. And that is the sad reality of great dogs who never had a chance to fulfill their potential.


If you are looking for a new furry family addition, please make PAWS or any of your local animal shelters your first port of call. There are countless dogs and cats out there looking for a family and the way I see it, I've made as much a difference to my humans lives as they have to mine. 

First picture ever taken of me by my human. This was when we were at the "getting to know you" stage in PAWS. I imagine this is what speed-dating feels like.

PAWS Animal Welfare Society
(ROS registration Number: 4040/87)
Pilmoor Estate,
Subang Airport Road,
47200 Subang, Selangor,
Malaysia.
Tel: +60 (0)3 7846 1087
EMail : shelter_manager@paws.org.my
Opening Times:
Monday – Friday: 9.00am – 4.00pm
Saturday – Sunday: 9.00am – 4.00pm
Wednesdays: CLOSED